Paving.



F. L. KEPPLER.

PAVING.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 6. 19x2.

Patented Dec. 5, 1916.

e daze/5. 7657 77/22 m; away.

FREDERICK L. KEPPLEE, OF BERLIN, GERMANY.

PAVING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 5, 1916.

Application filed. November 6, 1912. Serial No. 729,763.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, FREDERICK L. Kerr- LER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Berlin, Germany, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Paving,

of which the following is a specification.

Experience has shown that when glass blocks or panels are placed in a paving designed to carry vehicle traific the sudden application of the heavy load as the wheel rolls from the spacing or supporting grid between the glass panels on to the glass panel itself tends to shatter the panel around its edges and the paving soon disintegrates. It has been found that when the load is applied only to the center of the glass panel this disintegration, crushing and breakage does not occur.

A suitable way in which to cause the load to be applied only at the center of the panel is to interpose between each panel or block of glass an upwardly projecting wall which will so deflect the wheel that as it rolls off the top of the wall it strikes not the edge of the panel but the center, and grids have been made in which such upwardly projecting walls were used and they have produced satisfactory results. However, in the past it has always been customary to cast the grid integral, so that when such a paving as this is to be produced the grid must be designed for the particular spot where it is to be placed and must be cast or otherwise made and then brought as an entirety to the point where it is to be applied. This, of course, is a very undesirable method of manufacture and installation and large and cumbersom grids are expensive'to produce, to ship and to install and there isthe ever present possibility that they may not fit. My invention is designed to obviate these difficulties.

It has, therefore, for its object to provide means whereby the grid may be built up in situ out of ordinary commercial shapes and the glass may then be placed and the whole cemented and locked firmly in position preferably by the use of cement and concrete without any previous production of an integral, fixed and rigid structure. It is illustrated diagrammatically in one form in the accompanying drawings wherein Figural shows a horizontal section of panels in a grid; Fig. 2 shows a vertical section along line 22 of Fig. l; and Fig. 3

shows a detail isometric view of one of the stools and one of the protecting cleats.

Like parts are indicated by like letters in all of the figures.

My structure is made up of a plurality of truncated pyramidal stools A having about their bottom edges the outwardly projecting flanges B from which flanges project on two adjacent sides of each of said stools interlocking lips C. The ribs D project outwardly from two adjacent sides of said pyramids. These ribs terminate at the up per edge of the pyramid but project downwardly therefrom. Intersecting walls E are mounted on and integral with said ribs so that each pyramid is provided with two intersecting walls. These walls project upwardly above the tops of the pyramids and downwardly below and terminate in castellated cleats F. Each one of these pyramids and accompanying walls and cleats forms an integral whole. They are preferably cast together although they might be machined, stamped or formed in any other suitable way.

The stools A are brought together in groups to form the skeleton for the pavement, the flanges B being held in close contact one with the other and the lips C each overlying one of the flanges B on another stool to make a closely interlocked form. Reinforcing rods'or bars G are criss-crossed between the stools A in the interstices left between the stools immediately above the flanges B. While the stools and reinforcing rods are held temporarily in position a plastic mass of concrete or cement is poured into the spaces surrounding the stools, thus inclosing the reinforcing bars or rods. The glass or other translucent plates or panels H are centered in position above the open portion of the stools being supported slightly above the stools at such a height that the upper surface of the panel comes substantially to a level-with the surface of the slots between the castellated cleats F. The panels H are of such size that ther is a space left between them and the cleats F and walls E on all sides. The cement is poured until it fills the spaces between the panels and the walls and until it fills the space between the panels and the tops of the stools. Thus the panels are completely embedded and supported in a cushion of concrete or cement. The cement is then allowed to set and grip the stools, the reinforcing bars and the panels firmly in its grasp and hold them together to form an integral whole.

It will be evident that by a multiplication of the number of reinforcing bars, stools and kindred parts, the pavement may be made in any desired size or shape limited only by the strength of the materials. The peculiar arrangement of the upwardly projecting cleats is, of course, such that each glass panel is surrounded by a square protecting wall made up of the castellated cleat members. The spaces between the castellations are, of course, of such size that drainage and cleaning is permitted without being so wide as to permit the entrance of a wheel into the space. Thus, as above stated, the wheels roll from the upper edge of the castellated cleats down on to the panel .at a point sufiiciently removed from its edges to prevent fracture. The size and shape of the reinforcing bars, of course, can be varied to suit the whim or purpose of the constructor and the same is to a large extent true of the castellated cleats and stools.

l have shown the stools so designed that they engage at their lower edges to make a substantially tight form for the cement and concrete and thus obviate the necessity of an additional form at the bottom of the grid. The pavement consists of a series of separate unitary and uniform members united in a common unitary structure by means of concretebetwe'en their adjacent edges and reinforcing bars buried in the concrete.

The object of my invention is to provide such units and a concrete pavement built up therefrom. In practice and in the making of lights of the general class to which this relates, they are commonly made up in the factory in complete sections or pieces and sent to the shop and laid there in position. This necessitates measuring and feeding. With the structures here illustrated, this is obviated, for the stools, grid members or separable parts can be assembled on the spot and in the j ob;

This is, experience shows, a very satisfactory, cheap and efficient construction though, of course, the same result might be obtained in other ways. It will, of course, be evident from the very nature of the case that my drawings are to a large extent diagrammatic and I do not, therefore, wish to be limited to the precise structure shown.

I claim:

1. A translucent pavement consisting of a grid made up of separate intersecting cross members, stools separate from but supported by said cross members, and having each a central opening and a surrounding elevated rim and translucent panels mounted upon said stools and within but beneath the surface of said rim and means for holding the parts together.

2. A translucent pavement consisting of a grid made up of separate intersecting cross members, stools separate from but supported by cross members, and having each a central opening and a surrounding elevated rim and translucent panels mounted upon said stools and within but beneath the surface of said rim, and a plastic material inclosing the grid, surrounding the stools and in which the panels and the protecting cleats are embedded.

3. A pavement consisting of assembled units of metal and glass comprising separate grid-forming cross members, stools supported thereby, transucent panels mounted above said stools, a rim surrounding and projecting above each of said panels, and a plastic material inclosing the grid, surrounding the stools, and in which the panels are embedded.

l. A pavement consisting of: assembled units of metal and glass, coinprismg separate grid-forming members, truncated pyramidal stools open at both ends and supported thereby, ribs projecting outwardly from the upper portion of the walls of said stools on two adjacent sides and carrying rectangular cleat members, glass panels mounted above said pyramidal stools, and a plastic mass in which the stools and the panels are embedded.

5. A translucent pavement structure comprising a series of separate hollow stools, projecting rims surrounding and projecting above them in part integral with each other, translucent panels supported above the stools and within but lower than the surface of the rims, a grid of concrete and reinforcing rods whose members connect and support the several parts.

6. A translucent pavement comprising a series of separate translucent panels, a series of separate upwardly projecting members of rigid material inclosing each of said panels and a series of cross members supporting and holding the several parts in position.

In testimony whereof, I ailix my signature in the presence of two witnesses this 29th day of October 1912.

FREDERICK L. KEPPLER.

WVitnesses:

FRANCIS W. PARKER, J r., MINNIE SUNDFAR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

